Wings Are More Than We Ever Thought They Could Be (Old Version)
by Everything4Everyone
Summary: Yugo hasn't told anybody what's under his hat. Every time someone mentions it, he'll avoid the question. What happens when everybody finds out? And what else is he keeping hidden? I DO NOT OWN WAKFU!
1. Chapter 1

A small group was walking through the middle of the desert. It was hot, and they were out of water. Which, of course, meant that everyone was at each other's throats.

"You guys are all idiots!" Eva snapped, ran ahead in a huff, and fell off of the dune, where everyone heard... splashing? They ran after her, only to find that she had found an oasis.

They all drank as much as they wanted, then decided to take turns bathing. Here's the order they're going in: Yugo first, Amalia second, Evangelyne third, Dally fourth, then Ruel last. Adamaï would take his bath with Yugo, since they were brothers and all.

Yugo was about to get in, when Amalia asked him a question he had been dreading. "Why don't you take your hat off, Yugo? Here, just let me take it until you're done..." That's as far as she got before Yugo jumped in, holding his hat tightly. "Guess that answers my question," Amalia said, laughing. Evangelyne though, anyone could tell just by the look on her face that she was suspicious.

After they were done bathing, Evangelyne came up to Yugo and asked, "Hey Yugo, are you hiding something from us? You're always wearing your hat, and you're so protective of it, anyone would think you're hiding something from us."  
His ears skyrocketed upward from surprise and shock, then dropped down slowly until they touched his cheeks, before skyrocketing upwards again. At that, everyone started to stare at him, as his ears crept downwards. "Yugo," Amalia said, choosing her words carefully, "Why do your ears move like that? Is there something under them?" Yugo just muttered that he didn't want to talk about it, and ran off in tears for some reason.

The group arrived in the Sadida kingdom after about a week. After Yugo ran off, he apparently came straight to the Sadida kingdom, so they didn't have to look for him.

The king had asked Amalia to tell Yugo something, so she was looking for him. She turned a corner. "Oh, there he is! Yugo! Yugooo!" She waved, running up to him. "We've been looking for you," She said brightly. "Father wants you to attend dinner tonight. He says you haven't been eating. He looked ashamed and whispered something. Amalia had to strain to hear it. "That's because I haven't been." She looked at him, horrified. "Why haven't you been eating, Yugo?" He looked embarrassed and whispered that he hadn't been hungry lately. "Well, I'm about to change that." She grabbed his arm and dragged him all the way to the banquet table, where she forced him to eat loads of food.

After she was satisfied with the amount that he had eaten, she let him go do whatever. To her surprise, he headed towards the forest, trembling, with his ears flying all over the place. "I wonder what's up with that." She muttered softly, watching him go.

Yugo walked into the forest, trembling with pain, his ears going all over the place, his stomach threatening to hurl, and extreme pain coming from his wings.

He slumped down under a tree and took off his hat. Nobody knows about his wings. Not even Adamaï. Not even his dad. Only the other Eliatropes know, and they are far, far away, in another dimension.

Unable to think of what else to do, Yugo started singing.

"_I have no one to talk to. _  
_I'm all alone in this. _  
_What should I do? _  
_I'm confused, I'm not sure what to think anymore._  
_Who knew that having wings could hurt so much?_  
_I'm lost, I'm alone, I don't know what to do, but my wings will see me through. _  
_I'm scared of what they will think, faced with the truth._  
_Anybody with any sense would leave me all alone ._  
_I wish this could just be a dream. _  
_I don't want to do this anymore._  
_It was fun at first, but now there's just secrets everywhere._  
_I have to hide from my family and friends._  
_I know it's wrong to think this way._  
_But I just can't stop myself._  
_And I just can't reveal my most closely guarded secret._  
_I'm sorry, but I can't tell you friends, or you will hurt me._  
_Maybe without realizing it. _  
_You will hurt me, you will think you're helping me, but every time you touch them, I get hurt, badly._  
_You think it'll all get better, but all it can get is worse._  
_Who knew that having wings could hurt so much._  
_Who knew that having wings could hurt so much._

After my song, I took a long drink and decided to sing something a bit shorter.  
(Song at the top? ﾟﾏ )

_I'm paralyzed _  
_where are my feelings_  
_I no longer feel things_  
_I know I should_  
_I'm paralyzed _  
_Where is the real me_  
_I'm lost and it kills me_  
_Inside_  
_I'm paralyzed_

Yugo liked this song a lot better.

He smiled and stood up. He ran a hand through his hair, and just barely nicked one of his wings. Burning pains immediately began to pulse in his wings, spreading down his head slowly. When he was younger, it had been warm and comforting, but after the battles with Nox and Qilby, they became super sensitive, so he couldn't touch them and feel their calming warmth. Instead, he'd get a major, head-splitting headache, and a burnt hand.

Yugo suddenly heard footsteps, so he hurriedly put his hat on.

Looking where the footsteps were coming from, he saw two someones he was hoping to never see again...

**I own the first song, but not the second one.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Last time**

_Yugo_ _suddenly_ _heard_ _footsteps_, _so_ _he_ _hurriedly_ _put his hat on_.

_Looking where the footsteps_ _were coming from, he saw two someones he was hoping to never see again..._

Nox and Qilby.

Before Yugo could say a word, Qilby picked him up like he would a child, and brought him to the white dimension, opening a portal out of thin air. Then, for some reason, neither of them attacked, just sat there watching him.

Yugo had a strong feeling that neither of them were going to hurt him, so he just stayed where he was without struggling or screaming. He just waited, and watched.

Qilby walked up to Yugo slowly, like he was afraid that Yugo was going to attack. "Yugo, we don't mean you any harm, but we are going to leave you here for a while. We're sorry. We will be back in a week or so, and explain everything. Until then, don't panic." Yugo nodded, dumbstruck by what was going on. Nox and Qilby were being nice to him? Was this an alternate universe or something?

"Goodbye, Yugo." Nox said, right before they both left in one of Qilby's portals. Yugo settled down on the ground, still in shock from the abrupt kidnapping.

Adamaï was in his and Yugo's room, reading, when he felt Yugo's wakfu vanish suddenly. Frightened, he checked again, coming up with nothing. It was like he suddenly vanished from the world. Could he be...dead? Adamaï needed to tell the others. He ran downstairs as quickly as he could, scared half to death. He contacted the others using wakfu, and told them to meet him in the gardens. He told them it was an emergency. They could hear the panic in his voice.

By the time Adamaï arrived, everybody else was already there. Panicking, he told them the news about Yugo. The results were all the same : panicking. Amalia was screaming, Eva was crying, Dally was trying to comfort Eva, Rubilax, and himself, and failing, too, Ruel and Alibert looked really upset and were trying not to cry, and Adamaï was probably having the hardest time. After all, Yugo is his brother.

After a while, they all pulled themselves together, and started to think on what could have happened. They all had our own theories about what happened to Yugo. Eva, Dally, and Amalia were convinced that he was dead, Alibert and Ruel thought that he must be hiding, and Adamaï was of the opinion that he was in another world. They all sat down to discuss what to do. Adamaï had a feeling that Yugo is going to be fine. Now all that he can do is wait...

Yugo sat as still as could be, watching what looked like just another patch of white, but was the spot where Nox and Qilby would appear in. Yugo knew somehow that they would answer all of his questions. He still didn't know why they had kidnapped him, but they didn't seem to want to cause him any harm.

After about three minutes, a portal opened, and Nox and Qilby came out of it. They looked kinda scared, and wouldn't meet Yugo's eyes. He jumped up, and followed them. They went to an area that wasn't just plain white emptiness, with a table and chairs. Nox and Qilby sat down, and invited Yugo to sit with them.

After a minute, he spoke. "Sooo, um, why'd you bring me here?

Nox sighed, and looked to Qilby for help. Qilby looked uncomfortable, but he began anyways. "Yugo... We know your secrets." Yugo's eyes widened in shock at this. "All of them." He added. Yugo stared at him, mouth open, wings spinning, and a million questions in his mind. Shocked and scared, he started to cry, but to his surprise, Nox and Qilby hugged him.

After Yugo was done crying, he stood up shakily...and threw up all over the place. Nox and Qilby, looking worried, hurried over to him. Qilby started to clean up the mess, while Nox held him up. "Yugo... we're sorry. We didn't realize the effects our battles would have on you," Qilby said, slowly, hesitantly, reaching over to grasp Yugo's hand. Exhausted, Yugo let him, then wakfu started rushing through his body, giving him energy. Then Qilby stepped back a bit, and Nox slowly put Yugo in the chair he was in a minute ago.

Yugo watched them, confused. "What do you mean? What's your fault? They both sighed and looked at him sadly. "Yugo... during our battles with you, we accidentally gave you a rare disease that only Eliatropes get. Unfortunately, your disease is even further along than we suspected... you see, there are five stages. Stage one is time lapses, stage two is burning wings, stage three is being unable to eat without large amounts of pain, stage four is blindness, and stage five is extraordinary sickness followed by painful death. You are on stage three, which is further along then we suspected. Just as a thing, the blindness will go on for a few months before stage five hits. Okay, first of all, we want to know when you started having time lapses."

Qilby leaned forward in his seat, looking nervous. Yugo tried to think... when was it... oh yeah... "A few hours after the battle with Nox. I blinked and suddenly it was dark out. I assumed that I had just fallen asleep, but when they kept happening, I guessed that something was wrong." They looked a little unsettled, then Nox asked the next question. "When did stage two begin?"

Yugo smiled, glad that this one would be easy. "Three hours before I fought Qilby. I was in my room, so I took my hat off so that I could relax, because of how warm and comforting they felt, only to burn my hand and give myself a migraine. Ever since then, I haven't been able to touch my wings." Qilby nodded, looking nervous. "Yugo... we're going to bring you home now, but we will communicate with you through dreams, understand? Good... Farewell."

"Wait! Don't go! I have more questions!" Yugo shouted, but it was too late, and he knew no more.

.oOo.

Adamaï felt a sudden surge of wakfu, and startled, knocking over his coffee cup. Everybody in the room, Dally, Eva, Amalia, Ruel, Alibert, Az, and the King startled. "What's wrong, Adamaï?" Amalia asked kindly. "It's Yugo! I found him! He needs help!" With that, Adamaï flew out after the signal as fast as he could without loosing the people following.

.oOo.

Yugo woke up slowly, unaccustomed to anything half as soft as the surface that he was lying on after a week of sleeping on the ground of the white dimension. He groaned, and rolled off his bed, but relaxed as soon as he hit the nice, comfortable floor. Wait... Nox! Qilby! There aren't any beds in the white dimension! Where was he?

His eyes flew open wide in panic, as he jumped up off the floor, only to stop as soon as he saw where he was. "I-I'm home?" Startled, he blinked a few times, then looked around, shaking. He guessed that after he'd hit his head, then Nox and Qilby had brought him to the real world, and someone must have found him and brought him there. Probably Adamaï, but it could be someone else, like Ami, Eva, Dally, even a random stranger!

Yugo was interrupted when his belly rumbled, reminding him that it was very hungry, and would like some food, now.

He sighed, plopping down on the too-soft bed, only to get up and open the door when his stomach rumbled again. Giving in, he opened the door a crack and peeked out. Nobody there. That was good. Opening the door just enough to allow his skinny frame out, He crept into the hallway silently, the only noise being the drumming of rain against the roof, and quiet chattering from downstairs.

He heard Amalia ask "Do you think that Yugo will wake up soon?" He had no way of telling who she was talking to, so he strained his ears for whoever answered. To his surprise, the first one to answer was Adamaï, sounding sad. "I don't know, Ami." Evangelyne piped in, adding to his sentence. "I wonder what he went through during the week he was missing." Ruel answered her in a roundabout way that didn't actually answer the question, but helped Yugo figure out what happened. "Well, whatever it was, it was bad enough to put him in a coma for three days."

At this, Yugo gasped almost silently. He had been in the white dimension for a week, then in a coma for three days? What caused that? However, it seemed that he didn't gasp quietly enough, as Amalia's father and brother looked in his direction briefly immediately afterwards, but saw nothing, as they didn't come over or look back in his direction for the remainder of the meal.

He crept up to his room, where he sat on the edge of his bed and waited for somebody to find him.

He blinked.

Suddenly it was dark out, and the door was beginning to open. Yugo jumped, startled. He must have had a time lapse. They were growing more common as his illness ( Et In Alis Morbus, or The Disease of Wings, as it was apparently known) progressed.

Adamaï entered slowly, his eyes on the ground. Yugo grinned at him. "Hello, Brother!" He called out cheerfully. Adamaï's head snapped up. "Brother?" He breathed softly, startled at the sight of Yugo up and awake and well.

Yugo waved cheerfully. "Hi!"

.oOo.

Yugo turned a one-handed cartwheel, then turned and grinned at Adamaï. "See? I can too do a cartwheel." Adamaï smiled back. "I never doubted you!" Yugo turned another. Adamaï watched, smiling. It had been two weeks since Yugo had returned. He hadn't said a word about what had happened, and Adamaï didn't ask.

Yugo stopped suddenly. "Hey, Brother?" Adamaï snapped to attention. "Yes?" Yugo turned to smile at him. "Can you keep a secret?" Adamaï's eyes widened. "Of course, Brother. Of course."

Yugo's smile was brilliant, but his moves were hesitant. He was scared.

.oOo.

"Listen, Adamaï! Please, just STOP! Okay? I'm not about to break! I'm not about to die! I don't need you hovering over me every second of the rest of my life! When I get sick enough to actually need your help, then you can follow me around to your heart's desire, but until then, STOP, _please_!"

Adamaï looked startled. Yugo had turned on him in the middle of the hallway, shouting, and he had no clue how to react. Yugo sighed. "Listen, Brother, I appreciate it. Really, I do. But I'm _fine_. I don't need care like this yet. I'm still only on stage three, and I won't need help until stage four." He sighed. "Listen, Adamaï. I appreciate this. I really do. But I'm fine. Once I really need help, then you can help me all that you want, okay? But until then, I need some space. I'm not an invalid yet, and... I'm scared, Adamaï. And you following me makes me even more scared."

After that talk, Adamaï stopped following Yugo everywhere, but he was always close by, just in case. He watched from a distance, making sure not to stifle his little brother. After all, he wanted to protect him, not kill him.

He watched as Yugo walked down the street, talking with Amalia. It was so obvious that his brother had a crush on her that it was funny. But honestly, he thought that Yugo could do better. Sure, he liked Amalia, but she didn't seem to be an ideal choice for a mate. First of all, she wasn't willing to wait for him, and that was the biggest no of all.

There was much more, but the bottom line was, Adamaï did not approve.

Amalia reached for Yugo's hat, but he ducked, laughing and ran away. Not for the first time, Adamaï wondered why his brother never ever took his hat off.


	3. Chapter 3

Yugo laughed as he ducked under Adamaï's outstretched arms, holding on tightly to his hat. Adamaï tried to discreetly grab Yugo's hat, but his brother twisted away.

"Is that all you got, brother? I thought that you had more in you!" Yugo cried, jumping onto a rock. Adamaï watched worriedly, making sure that his brother was fine. It had been nearly a month since he'd woken up from his coma, and he was still in stage three. Stage four was the one that lasted the longest, so they'd at least have several more months to find a cure.

But Yugo was still sick, although there were few physical traces of the disease on his body. Adamaï fed him at least once a day and tried to keep him as healthy as possible.

Adamaï jumped up after his brother. They collided, wrestling in the dirt like children. They were children.

But that was okay. They were going to find a cure, and they were going to heal Yugo. Amalia had set the entire Sadida and Cra peoples to finding a cure, Ruel was dipping into his pockets of gold, Dally was looking for a cure by taking endless quests with Evangelyne, and Adamaï was researching dragon magic to try and find a cure.

Yugo was going to make it.

. oOo.

Yugo stared at the plate. The food swam before his eyes, looking like poison. Each bite was incredibly painful, sharp pains racing across his stomach, radiating out from the center of his belly. It hurt. It was incredibly painful. He could barely breathe. Black dots swam before him, dancing the waltz before his very eyes.

He hated eating now. It was incredibly painful, and he'd always just throw it up by the hour's end.

He needed help. He needed someone to tell him what he had to do. He needed direction, not a bunch of stumped people waving their clipboards around.

_"Don't eat it, Yugo." _Qilby's voice reverberated in Yugo's head, causing the boy to pause. _"It'll only make you worse. You need food, but this is not the way. You're only going to kill yourself faster this way." _Yugo hesitated, looking down at the plate. "But this is the only way that I can get food, and Adamaï worries when I don't eat."

A quiet chuckle. _"Then have Adamaï feed you through wakfu. That way he won't worry, and you'll get fed."_ Yugo's eyes widened. "He can do that?" He asked excitedly. _"Of course he can. It's necessary sometimes, like when someone can't eat, or they're in a coma, or when they're too weak or too young. They're then fed through wakfu. I've done it to many others, and I've had it done to me before many times. I can promise you, it doesn't hurt at all."_

Yugo frowned, pushing around the food on his plate. "I'll give it a try." He whispered.

. oOo.

Yugo laid in bed, looking up at Adamaï nervously. They were going to try feeding him using wakfu. He had completely stopped eating. He couldn't do it anymore. His throat would close and lock up, and anything that went down would just come back up minutes later.

But he was scared. Food gave you energy, and wakfu was nothing more than energy, but having something that powerful inside him? He was scared. He remembered what had happened to Nox when he had used too much wakfu.

Adamaï laid a hand on Yugo's shoulder comfortingly. "It'll be okay, brother. You know that I won't let anything happen to you."

Yugo smiles at his brother, still unconvinced but willing to try. "Okay."

Adamaï hesitated, before slowly beginning to channel wakfu through his hand, down into his brother. Yugo stiffened at the feeling of energy pouring into his body, too much, too fast. "A-A-Adamaï, s-slow down. Y-you're going too fast!"

Adamaï took a deep breath, slowing down the flow of wakfu as much as possible while keeping a steady stream of it flowing into his brother's body. Yugo visibly relaxed. "Thank you."

Yugo felt the wakfu rushing through his body, energizing him and taking away that horrible empty feeling inside of him. It felt... familiar. Safe. Warm. Like family.

He began to greedily suck up the wakfu, drawing it ever deeper into himself. He pulled and pulled, filling the emptiness within with wakfu.

He heard Adamaï cry out softly as Yugo started taking wakfu from his brother, and he abruptly cut the connection, horror filling him as he realized what he had almost done. Adamaï fell to the ground as the connection was severed. Yugo backed away as Adamaï groaned, sitting up from where he'd fallen.

Adamaï looked up, eyes widening as he saw his brother cringing away from him. He didn't even feel drained. The amount of wakfu that had been taken from him was negligible. Yugo had stopped so quickly after Adamaï had cried out in surprise. He hadn't realized just how hungry Yugo had been. Adamaï had felt the void in his brother's stomach, a huge, gaping hole gasping for food, for anything. The Eliatrope obviously hadn't gotten any food down in months.

Adamaï reached up, grabbing Yugo's wrist and began to channel his wakfu into his brother, forcing the Eliatrope to take in his wakfu, trying desperately to fill the hole in his brother. Yugo gasped in shock. Adamaï started to pour everything that he had into his brother, eyes streaming with tears.

Yugo yanked his hand away as soon as he realized what Adamaï was doing. "AD! STOP!" He cried out. Adamaï dropped to the ground, exhausted. Yugo reached down, hand alighting on the dragon's shoulder. Adamaï took the opportunity to pump more wakfu into his brother, who pulled his hand back as if it had been stung. "AD! _STOP!_"

Adamaï looked up at his brother, dazed. "Wha'?" He asked intelligently. Yugo turned away from him. "This isn't going to work, Adamaï. You're hurting."

Adamaï finally convinced Yugo by telling him that he felt Yugo's pain. Yugo was convinced before a second had passed.

"Okay."

.oOo.

Yugo was sitting in front of the statue of Dally, on the bench that Eva had always sat on after Dally'd died, when a chirping yellow blob flew down at him, spinning circles and chirping nonstop. His face lit up. "Az!" He cuddled the tofu close to him. "I haven't seen you since you met that lady tofu! And that was months ago! It's great to see you! "

Az was chirping so fast that Yugo had trouble keeping up. He laughed.

"It's great to see you too, Az. I really missed you while you were gone. Did you have any eggs?" At Az's proud chirp, he grinned. "Good for you, Az! I know that you'll be a great father!" Az chirped proudly again.

Yugo laughed. "Oh, I missed you, Az." He hugged the tofu tightly. Az squeaked but seemed to understand that his brother needed a hug. He snuggled into Yugo's arms, letting out a sigh of delight.

Yugo smiled down at the tofu in his arms. The little thing had fallen in love with a really pretty girl tofu and had followed her out of the Sadida kingdom. Yugo had decided to let him go, to let him find love. After all, he reasoned, tofu only life once, even if Az had an unnatural life span. Yugo had to thank Grugraloragran for that.

Yugo stood up, Az still safely in his arms. "I hope that you can stay for a while, Az. I miss you."

.oOo.

Yugo smiled happily at the little bundle of yellow on his shoulder as he walked down the halls of the palace. It was great to have Az back. He'd gone for months. Yugo'd never gone so long without his tofu brother before. They'd been together practically since birth. In fact, Az had been hatched by Grugraloragran to be his companion in place of his brother, Adamaï.

At the thought of his brother, Yugo started looking around. His brother was usually near him nowadays, ever since he'd learnt that Yugo was dying. And sure enough, he spotted Adamaï right in front of him, talking with some random Sadida that Yugo had never seen in his life. He appeared to be paying attention to the Sadida, but his eyes were on Yugo the entire time. Yugo smiled and waved at his brother. Adamaï excused himself from the Sadida, who was confused until he saw Yugo. Everybody knew that Adamaï would put down anything to be with his brother, especially now that the Eliatrope was sick.

Sighing, the Sadida left to go find someone else to talk to.

Yugo smiled at his brother. "Ad! Az came back!" He cried, holding the little tofu above his head excitedly.

His head began pounding, what sounded like a massive drum making his ears ring. His vision went blurry. Dimly he heard his brother calling to him as he collapsed to the ground, barely aware of what was going on. There was an intense pain_ his eyes his eyes his eyes his eyes oh Kami his eyes_, and he felt a heartbroken scream as he plummeted into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

Yugo woke up slowly. His brain was muddled, his head felt like there was a gigantic drum pounding away inside of it, and his eyes hurt. He tried to open his eyes. They opened easily enough, but all that he saw were the wakfu currents running through things. He had finally reached stage four. Blindness. But at least he could still see wakfu. He hadn't known that he'd still be able to see wakfu. He'd assumed that he'd be completely blind. At least he could still see, for now at least.

Yugo sat up. Adamaï and Az were at his side in less than a second. Az was chirping frantically, while Adamaï seemed to be close to doing the same, despite being in dragon form. "Guys, settle down. I'm fine." It was meant to be reassuring, but Adamaï just started to panic more. Yugo sighed. Reaching forwards, he pulled his dragon brother into a tight hug. "I'm fine, Ad." He whispered to the distressed dragon.

Slowly, Adamaï relaxed. Yugo slowly pulled back, studying his brother's face through wakfu. He tried to memorize as much as possible, just in case he loses his ability to see wakfu as well as the ability to see. If nothing else, he wanted to remember his brother's face.

"I'm fine, Ad." He repeated. "I simply reached the next stage in this disease." Adamaï opened his mouth, looked at Yugo, and shut it again. "...I don't even want to know..." He muttered. Yugo smiled. "Good choice, Ad. I'm still pretty confused about it myself, you know." He pulled the dragon back in for another hug. This time, neither of them let go.

He really was. He wasn't sure how Qilby could make portals, or how Nox was still alive, or why they were helping him. It could be guilt, but he didn't think so. So why? Last time he'd checked, they'd both hated Yugo. They might just be trying to give him a comfortable death, but he'd died many many times before from much worse things than this, although he could only recall a few in any detail more than general shapes and impressions, and they'd never helped him before. So why now? Was it because he was a child? No, because he'd died as a child before. Something about being eaten by a giant flying monkey and they hadn't managed to get to him in time. He'd lasted for a few days after they'd found him before finally dying, his body horrendously disfigured by the monkey's teeth and stomach acid.

Yugo was having trouble feeling. It was becoming a struggle to stay bright and happy. His worry, his joy, his excitement, his determination, it was all fading away. He knew that he should feel these things, but it was so hard.

_"It's because your wings are amplifiers. That also means that they amplify emotions. When an __Eliatrope__ damages their wings, they begin to lose some of their ability to feel. It usually starts with their emotions. Then pain, usually. So if you stop feeling pain, it's because your wings are damaged."_ Qilby said in Yugo's mind, somehow knowing the perfect time to show up. Yugo looked down at Adamaï sadly._ "He doesn't know, does he," _Qilby stated sadly. Yugo shook his head. _"No. I've never shown anybody but you my wings." _Qilby's voice felt sad. _"You don't have much more time, you know. It's a matter of months now. At the end... you'll be happy to go. Being inside the __Dofus__ is actually quite soothing and relaxing. It actually doesn't erase your memory. That's the birth that does that. It's actually a lot like sleeping, and you dream of those that you were closest to, particularly your sibling." _

_"And best of all, it doesn't hurt inside the __Dofus__. It's a time to relax and heal, a time of rebirth. And once your sibling joins you, it's the most wonderful sensation in the world. If I could, I would spend all my time there with my sister." _Qilby continued.

Yugo hugged Adamaï tighter._"I don't want to leave him. Isn't there a cure?" _He asked desperately. Qilby's silence was an answer all on its own. Yugo looked down at his brother.

_"Believe me, Yugo, if there was a cure then I'd give it to you. But the most that we could ever do was ease their suffering. Even I, who kept all of my memories, do not know what the cure is." _Qilby said sadly._ "__Nox__ is here too. He says that he owes you a favor. He appears to have grown attached. That's both good and bad. Good, because __Nox__ protects what is his to the end, but bad, because __Nox__ tends to go overboard. Like, suck-all-the-wakfu-out-of-the-world overboard. He's one protective daddy."_

Yugo blinked, surprised._"What?" _Qilby's voice had a shrug in it. _"As I said, __Nox__ is a really protective parent. All that stuff with the sucking-all-of-the-wakfu-out-of-the-world thing was actually just him trying to protect his kids. He goes a little overboard with that kind of stuff." _Qilby stopped for a moment, before continuing brightly. _"And he's decided to unofficially adopt you! And since he and I and kinda married, then we have joint custody of you!"_ Yugo's mind stopped at one thing. _"Wait... You and __Nox__ are _married_?!" _Qilby chuckled._"After you sent me to the white dimension for the second time, I met __Nox__ for the first time. We hit it off pretty quickly. We're not officially married, but we do consider ourselves to be married." _Yugo frowned. _"__So... you and __Nox__... are actually... married?!" _He buried his head in his hands._ "__This world has been really messed up lately." _He muttered into his arms. First he'd been kidnapped by Nox and Qilby, who were supposed to be dead and trapped, respectively, then they had been nice to him, then they'd started taking care of him, then they decided to adopt him, and then he'd discovered that they were married. He hadn't even known that two people of the same gender could get married.

He sighed._ "This is really, really, really, really, really, messed up, but I'm just going to go with it. I'd rather keep my sanity a little bit longer." _

.oOo.

And he slowly got used to it. Nox's overprotectiveness and Qilby's support, their marriage and him being blind. Adamaï's hovering and Az's sudden tendency to follow him around everywhere. The world had gone absolutely nuts lately, but he adapted and went on. This was probably going to continue all the way until his death.

Nobody but his family knew that he was dying. Ami and Eva and Dally and Ruel were all very close friends of his, but lately they'd begun spending more time together without him. Adamaï's sudden overprotectiveness and hovering made them feel uncomfortable, so they drifted away. Dally and Evangeline were trying to start a family. They weren't officially married, but they were going for kids anyway. Amalia dove into her duties as a princess, making more and more decisions on her own and trying to help her kingdom. Ruel was scheming to get more money, as usual, Junior at his side.

Alibert was coming up to help Yugo. He'd been told that his son was sick. He hadn't been given any details yet. Yugo would reveal his secret to him and Adamaï together. He'd be arriving very soon.

He swallowed nervously at the thought. He'd kept his secret ever since his birth, fourteen years ago now, and now he was going to reveal it to the two people that he cared about the most. Sure, he liked Amalia, but these two were his family and she was always too busy to spend any time with him anymore.

"Later," they'd always tell him. He wanted to scream at them, "I don't have a later! I'm dying!" But they'd never hear him. Right now, they were all wrapped up in their new lives. And he couldn't blame them. Who would want to spend time with a sick, dying child when they could be working with life instead?

They all knew that he was sick, but that was the extent of it. They knew that there was no cure, and they were working hard to find one, but they thought that it was a simple sickness. They didn't know that he was dying.

The door opened. Yugo looked up, expecting Alibert or Adamaï, but instead, Evangelyne stepped through, looking nervous, hands behind her back like she was gripping something. He sat up, surprised. He had been leaning against the headboard like he usually did. "Eva? What are you doing here?" He asked. She blushed, stepping forwards. "Well... Dally and I... we realized that we've been kinda neglecting you. We know that you're sick, so... um..." She pulled out a large bunch of flowers. "To brighten up your room. I mean, it is rather plain in here..." She trailed off, embarrassed. Yugo smiled at her, delighted. "Thanks, Eva. It means a lot. Really."

She smiled shyly and moved to his bed to put the flowers in the vase. "We just kinda looked around and realized that while we were so busy trying to build ourselves a life, you were stuck in here, sick." She hesitated. "Is...is there really no cure?" She asked slowly. Yugo nodded. "No cure. Never was. It's a pretty rare disease apparently. On our home planet, there was rarely more than one person on the entire planet with the disease, and even that one was rarely there. It's very rare and very hard to get."

Eva nodded slowly. Then she asked the one question that nobody else had ever thought to ask. "Are you okay?" And Yugo looked at her, and he shook his head. "No. I'm not." And he revealed his secret to her. "I'm dying, Eva."

Her eyes widened. Whatever she had been expecting, it had not been that. "Oh..." She closed the distance between her and Yugo with a mother's speed and embraced him gently. He began to cry. "I'm scared, Eva, I'm scared, I'm scared..." And she patted his back and whispered sweet nothings in his ear, caring for the boy that, although he was much more mature and smart than most children, was still a child. And he cried and cried and cried, cried out all of his confusion and hurt onto the woman that had always been the closest thing to a mother for him. And the nineteen-year-old woman sat with him and let him cry out all of his fears.

Finally, Yugo heaved one last, shuddering breath and pulled back. "Thanks, Eva." He whispered. She pulled back too, and she smiled tenderly at the dying Eliatrope. "I'm sorry for leaving you for so long," she whispered, "But I'm not leaving again."

True to her word, she called Dally, and they moved in right next door to Yugo. He'd been given a small hut so that he could rest without having to live in the hospital. Evangelyne pleaded pregnancy, and she was given a hut that somehow managed to be right next to Yugo's. And she did this in less than a hour. She promised to come and visit every single day at least once.

"Why did you say you were pregnant?" Yugo asked her afterwards, puzzled. She smiled tenderly down at her belly. "Because I am." She said. "The Eniripsa said it's twins, a boy and a girl. I don't know how she knows this early, since they were conceived less than a week ago, but she's already calculating personalities. She's really good at her job."

Yugo stared at her in wonder. "Can...can I see them?" He asked. He had seen the little lives inside of her, but he had thought that he was seeing things.

Instead of answering, she took his hand and placed it on her belly. He had to resist the urge to search through her.

It was as if she knew what he was thinking. "Go ahead, Yugo. Feel them. They are your little siblings, right?" Yugo looked up at her in surprise. "Siblings?" She smiled down at him. "Me and Dally talked about it, and we decided to adopt you... if you're willing, of course." She added the last bit on hastily. Yugo watched her in wonder. "Of... of course. I always did see you as a mom, you know."

He carefully sent little tendrils of wakfu into her belly and twined them around the children. They were still embryos, curled around themselves with gills and tails. But they were alive and full of life. They shone brightly. "The girl will be like Dally. Hotheaded, brave, probably a redhead. Strong and fast, but also smart and tactical. She'll be a wonderful fighter, and a determined one at that." He paused; thought. "The boy will be more like you. Probably blond, cautious, smart, proud, and slightly mischeivous as well. He'll almost always follow the rules because that's what he'll believe in, and he'll be very accurate with a bow, almost as good as his mother."

He looked up at Evangelyne, easily picking out her bright wakfu from the dim wakfu of the plant walls. "They're going to be wonderful children."

Eva could easily pick out the wistfulness in his voice. Sadness struck her, and she threw caution to the winds. "Tell you what," she said impulsively, "You can be the first to touch them. Nobody else can even touch them before you, not even me or Dally, okay? So you've gotta survive that long. Got it?" At Yugo's stunned nod, she grinned, nodding once to herself. "Good."

She stood up. "I'll go tell Dally, okay? Just shout if you need me." Yugo watched her go. As she reached the door, he called out. "Wait!" She turned back. "Yes?"

Yugo looked down, embarrassed. "Thank you, Mom. " He whispered. She looked surprised, before smiling at the boy. "You are very welcome, Yugo." She said tenderly, before leaving. The door swung shut gently, letting a crack of light in.

Yugo sighed and sat back in his bed and waited for Adamaï to bring Alibert.

In the other hut, Evangelyne fit the last two pieces together and placed the device on the wall. "Now we can hear everything that Yugo does." Dally looked at it then back at her. "He's our son, Dally. We have to protect him. He's dying." Dally nodded. "I was just wondering if there was any way that we could hide it. We don't want this to be visible!"

Evangelyne cried tears of relief. "Thank you, Dally. Thank you so much."

What Yugo calls people :

Alibert: Dad  
Nox: Papa  
Qilby: Father  
Dally: Daddy  
Evangelyne: Mom  
Elely: Lily or Sister.  
Flopin: Opi or Brother.  
Grugraloragran: Grugral or Brother.  
Chibi: Ibi or Brother.  
Adamaï: Ad or Brother.  
Az: Az or Azzy. 


End file.
